Qualsys appoints Aden Davies as EQMS Product Manager

Qualsys are delighted to welcome Aden Davies as Product Manager. 

Aden brings exciting talent from his previous role as Innovation Manager at HSBC and working with digital banking startups such as 11:FS and U Account. 

We interviewed Aden to find out what his plans are for his new role. 

What is a Product Manager?

Simply put, a product manager ensures the customer needs are met from the product.  

At Qualsys, EQMS has been completely re-engineered from the ground up over the last two years.

My role is all about making sure we're looking ahead and prioritising product requirements based on the customer.  

In the short term, my focus is on getting new versions fully released from a functional perspective. I'll be ensuring that we're building upon the existing features and bringing in new features by listening to our customers.

What are you most looking forward to in your new role? 

After 20+ years working in financial services, I knew a lot about these banking customers. Now I've joined Qualsys, I can't just rely on assumptions or my own experience.

I'll be applying some of my knowledge and processes but it's really exciting to step into the management system software world.

I'm really looking forward to be learning about quality professionals and how they are using EQMS. There's so much to learn, so many different use cases, and so much opportunity to drive the product forward. 

Why Qualsys? 

It may sound a little cliché, but it was the people and the company culture.

It's not just something they say. The Qualsys team feels like a big family. 

After the first call with the New Business and Marketing Director Michael Ord, I was invited to their customer user group at Sheffield Hallam University. The customers I spoke with also said the same, they enthused about the human service they received.

What do you think is the main mistake organisations make when investing in new technologies? 

It is easy to be amazed by the promised magic of technology.

But too often businesses are not really sure what problem they are trying to solve. 

When investing in technology, it's essential to have a clear understanding of risks, to understand how stakeholders are going to be using the tools, and to have an understanding of what the goals actually are. 

What do you think is the top business technology trend in 2019-2020? 

The promise of automation and the advances of machine learning and AI-like technologies get the vast majority of the attention in slavish tech blogs and keen boardrooms looking to save costs.

I think in reality most businesses are several years away from this yet. 

I would personally like the top business technology trend of 2019/2020 to be the same year-in, year-out.

That is - to really understand the products and services they provide and solve their customer problems.

The better your business understands the customer challenge, the easier it is to focus your resources.

Digital transformation is underway to varying degrees in business and industries. Customer expectations have leapt forward in the past decade. 

The definition of digital I come back to again and again is by Tom Loosemore who has worked for Channel 4, The Government Digital Service, Co-Op Digital to name a few:

The better you know the problems you solve for people as a business the better you should be able to adapt to those raised expectations.  

What are your top three favourite companies, and why? 

1) Monzo

Monzo are completely changing how people do their banking. 

I've worked in financial services for twenty years. Monzo are a challenger bank that is showing the mainstream incumbents what a digital bank really means.

They were dismissed by execs for years as just a prepaid card with a fancy mobile app that they could buy whenever they wanted.

Very quietly, Monzo now have 2m+ UK customers, with around just 750 staff. They've been valued at £1 BILLION+.

They ousted first direct from the top of the customer satisfaction charts. First direct had sat at the top for well over a decade.  The bank is 30+ years old, has  3,000 employees and 1.4 million customers - but a legacy of technical and cultural debt holding them back.

Monzo have shown real vision, design capability, technical excellence and execution to make real dent in a staid industry. Can they find a good enough business model to sustain that growth and cement their position? Interesting to watch.  

2) Amazon

I'm not certain whether to add this obvious one.

On the one hand they are THE Internet pioneer.

Jeff Bezos had a world conquering vision and he executed on it.

Digital business does not mean just on the web but of the web and the way your almost every whim and service need is catered for by Amazon is exemplary.

They have revolutionised what online shopping means from choice through to last mile logistics. Never mind the huge success of platform business like Amazon Web Services. His absolute focus on the customer is also inspiring.   

That being said you can't claim focus just on the customer as point of sale and ignore the wider externalities of customers lives.

The limited tax paid in countries where Amazon's revenues are in the billions. The employee practices that turn workers into servants of algorithms and not treated as humans leaves a sour taste. With great innovation and disruption come a greater responsibility. If you do want to put a dent in the world then you have be aware of the reverberations that causes in society.  

3) Hop Hideout

A much smaller business for my final choice.

Run by Jules & Will in a small corner of Sheffield they have brought their amazing knowledge of beer from across the world to many people in Sheffield via their own small store and through events like the annual Indie Beer Feast. A great little business run by passionate, knowledgeable people.

The best business so often are, the very best let that passion and knowledge shine through in everything that they do.  

How can customers get in touch with you? 

I'll be calling customers and visiting with account management team. I'd love to hear from any customers - you can book some time with me by sending me an email: aden.davies@qualsys.co.uk.  

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